Reading Food Labels, A Necessary Task

Reading Food Labels, A Necessary Task

I always thought I was good about reading food labels. I checked calories, I checked fat content. Most of the time I glanced at the ingredient list but to be honest I never recognized most of them. I assumed if calories and fat were low the rest was good. Calories and fat…that is what we were taught to avoid. I did those things and I still didn’t feel great. I still couldn’t keep the extra weight off. I have learned a lot in the last 6 years!

I eat pretty clean now, meaning I eat real food most of the time. I am still a work in progress but I feel pretty good. Looking back over the last 30 years I can’t believe all the things that I thought were normal and I didn’t have control over either because of the environment or because I was aging. I dealt with allergies, mild asthma, IBS, joint pain, weight gain and insomnia. My knees were almost always swollen. I also dealt with brain fog which I didn’t even realize until it went away. The crazy thing is I thought I was pretty healthy, at least in comparison to many. I exercised and I thought I ate well. I took no prescription medications and the doctor always told me everything was good, even though I was dealing with most of the above symptoms. As I got older and started dealing with more weight gain and terrible insomnia my doctor always said it was inevitable and comes with aging. He gave me a prescription for Ambien and told me to try to eat less and exercise more. 

None of This is Normal

Does any of this sound familiar? I am here to tell you that none of those symptoms are normal. It isn’t normal to gain weight or to have joint pain, swollen joints or hands, to not sleep well, to not poop normally, to have an upset stomach or acid reflux, to experience acne, psoriasis or eczema. These are all signs and signals that your body is trying to tell you something is wrong. Something coming in is damaging you. This could be toxins from the environment, stress and definitely the foods that you are consuming. 

We notice these symptoms. Many of us go to the doctor to find out what is wrong. Sadly, 9 times out of 10 we are immediately given a prescription or over the counter drug to treat the symptom. Often those drugs help us feel better for a short period of time but once we go off the drug the symptoms return. We have been given two options, either deal with the symptoms or go back on the drug. Staying on these drugs long term often lead to other symptoms and problems which result in more drugs. It is a vicious cycle. The problem is we mask the symptoms and don’t look for the root cause. We don’t figure out what our body is trying to tell us and we are further damaging our body by ignoring it’s message.

There is a Third Option

The good news is that we often can fix it. Most people don’t even know this is an option. It takes time, and work but it can be done and I promise it is worth the time and effort. The third option is to figure out what is causing the symptoms/problem and correct it. My suggestion is to start with your food. Learn what ingredients to avoid. Some are easy to know which to avoid and some take some experimentation. Everybody is different so what works for one person may not work for you. Start learning how to read food labels. I don’t just mean how many calories, fat, protein, carbs etc, but the actual ingredients. Start slow, as it can get overwhelming.

Ingredients Everyone Should Avoid

If you only took one thing out of your diet it should be inflammatory seed oils (canola, vegetable, soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower). Unfortunately these inflammatory oils are in almost every packaged item we buy. Take a look for yourself. Check out the labels in your refrigerator and pantry and see if you can find things that don’t have them. You will find a few, like maybe mustard. But look at your breads, cereals, salad dressings, bars, chips, etc. Next time you are at the grocery store try and find items that don’t have them. They do exist, and more companies are starting to make them, but it is like a scavenger hunt, you have to really look. It is next to impossible to remove them completely if you eat out but avoiding them at home is a great start.

The second thing to start working on is reducing your sugar intake. We eat WAY too much sugar. It is in everything. I read somewhere that there are over 60 different names for sugar. Why do you think that is? Food manufacturers don’t want you to know it is in there. Constantly eating sugar spikes your glucose and leads to more hunger and cravings (and other health issues). If you want your cravings to go away ditch the sugar.

The third would be to avoid most soy. Most of the time it is genetically modified and full of pesticides like glyphosate (round up). In fact buying organic whenever financially feasible is important. Many of the same chemicals you get sprayed on your lawn to kill weeds are also sprayed on our food. They put that sign on your yard that you (and your pets) should stay off the grass for x amount of days but supposedly it is safe to eat.

Food Labels are Misleading

I know it can seem impossible to understand all that food labels say. Honestly food companies try to make things look healthier than they actually are and few things are regulated. I ignore pretty much everything on the front of the label. The only three things I really pay attention to are Certified Organic, non GMO and Pasture Raised. Everything else means very little. For example you can now find items like potato chips, salad dressings, mayo, that will say made with olive oil or avocado oil on the front of the label. Always look at the actual ingredients before you buy them. Some of them (like Kraft and other large food companies) put that on the front of the packaging but the food still has vegetable or canola in addition to the small amount of avocado or olive oil. Why? It is cheaper. 

Other labels I ignore as they don’t mean much are All Natural, 100% Natural, Fortified, Enriched, No Sugar Added, Sugar Free, Fat Free, Low Fat, Multigrain, Good Source of Fiber, Made with Olive Oil and Avocado Oil, Made with Real Fruit, and High in Protein. Basically if something is taken out (like Fat Free, Sugar Free) I always look to see what is put in its place. Almost always it is something that I don’t want to eat. It is usually something that is made in a factory that my body doesn’t recognize and will cause me unpleasant symptoms. Sometimes those symptoms are immediate and sometimes it takes time which is why it is hard to figure out what exactly is bothering you. 

How to Make This Easier

Nutritionists used to say if the list has more than 5 ingredients don’t eat it and I don’t really agree with that. Instead if I don’t recognize what the ingredients are then I shouldn’t eat it. Start reducing the amount of packaged food you consume. Eat real food most of the time.

There are some brands out there making great healthy products. Years ago most stores didn’t carry them and they were hard to find but that is starting to change. Now I can find almost everything in my grocery store, Target or Walmart. To help make it easier I have compiled an extensive list of brands I like that use cleaner ingredients. Click here if you would like it emailed to you.

I realize this is A LOT. You don’t have to do everything all at once. Small changes will build on one another. Pick one small thing to work on at a time. Once you start getting these chemicals out of your body I promise you will start to notice a difference in the way you feel. Not only will you feel better but you will notice a decrease in cravings which makes it so much easier to lose the extra weight. I no longer deal with almost all of those symptoms I listed above. It didn’t happen overnight but I am glad I kept at it. 

Need help getting started? Follow me on Instagram at stricklyhelathy.shari and on Facebook at Strickly Healthy for motivation and ideas. You can also subscribe to my weekly newsletter here for recipes and healthier living suggestions. And as always, feel free to book a free call with me if you would like to discuss how I can help you with your individual needs. You can do this…start today!